Anne Frank' star is a seasoned actress at 14

Anastasia Korbal has toured nationally in “Les Miserables,” “The Little House on the Prairie,” and “Annie.” She has played the lead in several shows, including “The Secret Garden,” and been a proud member of Equity, the professional actor’s union for five of the nine years she’s been performing.

Anastasia Korbal turned 14 last Saturday. While other girls her age are thinking of boys and dating and high school ahead, Anastasia is planning her continuing career in the theater.

She begins 2014 with a plum role, the title character in “The Diary of Anne Frank” at the Media Theatre, where Anastasia will be one of the seasoned pros along with Scott Langdon, Anne Connors, and P. Brendan Mulvey. She said she became interested to the point of obsession when she studied the Holocaust while in the fourth grade of her New Jersey public school and that she is the process of reading the diary Anne Frank kept before and during her family’s hiding from Nazi occupiers of Amsterdam in the early 1940s.

Being an experienced actress at the age of 14 is no surprise for Anastasia, although she isn’t particularly sure how she landed some of her prestigious tours — “My mother must have arranged it” — and she has never had any formal training in acting or singing, only dance. What’s more, Anastasia said she doesn’t want lessons in any of the theater disciplines and that she learns more by experience and watching the gifted actors with whom she’s had the opportunity to work.

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The reason for no surprise is Anastasia has been acting since she was 2˝ and announced to her parents that she wanted to be on stage. Her determination went beyond a declaration of ambition.

“I had three characters I played, Molly from “Annie,” Gretl from “The Sound of Music,” and Hermione from the “Harry Potter” movies,” Anastasia said during a break in “Anne Frank” rehearsals at the Media.

“Each day I would get up and announce that I was one of those characters, and I’d play her for the entire day. No one was allowed to call me Anastasia. If they did, I wouldn’t answer. I was Molly, Gretl, or Hermione. I learned about the characters from watching movies. I would get up at 7:30 each morning, watch part of a movie, and choose my character for the day. The movies could be of any musical, but the character was always one of the same three.”

Like most girls in America, Anastasia was taken for dance lessons. This increased her yen to perform and to have an audience. She continues to dance, but said acting is her main focus.

By the time Anastasia was 5, her mother realized she had a dedicated actress in her midst. Anastasia participated in other activities such as soccer and T-ball, but it was the theater that called her. She said she couldn’t wait to be finished with sports when she played them.

“One day, my mother sat me down and said a theater in Delaware, the New Candlelight Theatre, was doing ‘The Sound of Music.’ She asked if I would like to audition. She said committing to being in a play involved a choice. If I was cast in ‘The Sound of Music,’ I would not be able to play T-ball. That was an easy enough decision.

“When the audition came, I was ready to play Gretl on stage. I made my mom leave the room and spoke to and performed for the director. I got the part. My T-ball days were over, which was good, because I hated it.

“I played Gretl three times, when I was 5, 6, and 7. She was my favorite Von Trapp because she was my age, and she had the best lines. I’m not interested in any of the other girls in ‘The Sound of Music’ except for Liesl. I will wait to audition for that show until I’m of an age to play Liesl.”

From the Candlelight, Anastasia went on to do a series of roles in community theater. She honed her talent and technique to the point she was chosen to play Young Cosette in a national tour of “Les Miserables” and later joined Melissa Gilbert on a “The Little House on the Prairie” tour.

“I have always been independent, so I enjoyed being on the road.” Anastasia said. “I missed my friends, but I went to school with the other children in the companies. We had a tutor who worked with us to keep up our education.

“I am the oldest of three children, so I always wanted an older sibling to look up to. The older girls in the casts of ‘Les Miz,’ ‘Little House,’ and “Annie’ were like the older sister I didn’t have but wanted. The adults were also good at teaching the tricks of the trade and helping me learn. I really enjoyed working with Melissa Gilbert.

“From every play you do, you learn something. That’s why I think it’s better to keep working and gain experience than to take lessons. ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ is a challenge because of the scope of the character. I’d played leads before in ‘The Secret Garden’ and ‘The Miracle Worker.’

“I spend a lot of time preparing for a character. Rehearsing on the set is a big help because I have a sense of Anne’s environment as defined by this theater. I can walk in her shoes better and have a better feeling about who she is. Each day, I feel more and more familiar with Anne, her surroundings, her parents, her sister, the others in the apartment, and Peter.

“I am the middle of reading Anne’s diary. I see similarities between her and me. She was fascinated by the world. She had a lot of energy, a lot of curiosity, and a lot of humor. No matter how bad or difficult her situation became, Anne remained optimistic and hopeful. Even within the confines of the apartment where she had to be so still and quiet, she was free-spirited. She did what she wanted. She looked at her ordeal as an adventure.

“I also learn a lot about Anne from her relationship with her father, about the only person she respected and minded. I work closely with Paul (Dake) on our scenes.

“In this production, two actors are doubling as Peter (Austy Hicks and Oliver Mannion). This also makes rehearsals interesting because they’re both so different. I find my line reading changing in response to theirs, and my attitude and manner also changes depending on who is playing Peter that day. The guys have such different physicality. You have to adjust.

“Anne thinks a lot about grown-ups and what it means to be an adult. She is fascinated by the grown-ups around her and writes about changing into a woman.

“In fourth grade, my class studied the Holocaust, and I found myself reading more than what was assigned because it was so incredible what people could do to one another.

“During that time, my class went to the Holocaust Museum in Philadelphia, We spoke to a survivor of the concentration camps. Since then I have taken an interest in the Holocaust and have used what I know in thinking about Anne living through those times.”

Anastasia said she intends to go on performing for as long as she has parts rather than go to college as a theater major. She would like to return to “Les Miserables” one day as Eponine, and an actress she admires is Jennifer Lawrence.

“Once I leave high school, I will probably go to California and explore television and movie roles. That doesn’t mean I want to leave the stage behind. I want to do everything, That includes dancing. I study everything from ballet to hip-hop, and I look forward to dancing in musicals.”

Anastasia attends a public school and said she has many friends with whom she talks about things that have little to do with the theater.

“I do not have what some would call a normal life. I have a career. I work and have a schedule and responsibility to do a great job. In spite of that, I get along with other kids and enjoy my time away from the theater.”

“The Diary of Anne Frank” is a departure for the Media Theatre, which bills itself as a musical theater. Media Artistic Director Jesse Cline is aware of this shift in his company’s general scheduling.

“We do all musicals,” Cline said. “Sometimes the education or academic community regards musicals as plain entertainment without much depth or importance. I disagree with that attitude. I don’t think some who look down on musicals have examined all that is in them.

“My job, though, is to think of the entire community. I also want to have the option to explore different kinds of shows, different kinds of dramatic literature. I want people to see the versatility of which the Media is capable and to attract people who may not be interested in musicals to our theater to see what we do. I’m not talking only of the academic community. I’m talking about young people and others who might prefer a non-musical like ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ to the fare for which we’re better known.

“In subsequent seasons, I’m planning a black box season in addition to our mainstage schedule to accommodate more plays. For now, I wanted to put a play in our current season.

“I chose ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ for several reasons. One is the new adaptation by Wendy Kesselman that deepens the play and gives more impact. Two other reasons are personal. I have spent a lot of time in Berlin and have visited the museums in that city that are partly or entirely devoted to the Holocaust. I can picture the monument, the blocks of different-size tombstone near the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag. You can’t help but have an emotional reaction to it.

“I have an emotional attachment to ‘The Diary of Anne Frank.’ I played Peter van Daan when I was a young actor in D.C. The space was compact and perfect for the Frank apartment. As I thought about a play to introduce a change of pace to audiences who expect musicals, I thought ‘Anne Frank’ would affect a great number of people. It has the potential to provide a great theater experience and show a different side of the Media.

“This is a play that strikes at the core of humanity. I mentioned the monument and museums in Berlin. They make me so introspective, and I think others feels the same. They speak to the puzzling complexities of human beings and what some people will perpetrate and some people can bear.”

Cline is known for using graphics — stills and film footage — to illuminate themes of shows at the Media. He says historical footage of the Holocaust era will be included in “Anne Frank.”

“I want the footage to report to the tone of the time but also to show what is was like for the Franks and their companions to be closed off from the world. That will reinforce the courage it took for them to exist in the space they were allotted. The audience will see what is going on outside while the Franks and Van Daans are hiding to save their lives”

IF YOU GO: “The Diary of Anne Frank” runs through Sunday, Feb. 16 at the Media Theatre, 104 E. State St., Media. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday to accommodate school classes, 2 p.m. Saturday, and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $42 with discounts for seniors and children and can be obtained by calling 610-891-0100 or visiting www.mediatheatre.org